PART X
CHAPTER 1 — DIVORCE
Intervention of Attorney-General
97. —(1) In the case of any proceedings for divorce —
(a) the court may, if it thinks fit, direct all necessary papers to be sent to the Attorney-General and he may argue before the court any question in relation to the matter which the court considers it necessary or expedient to be fully argued; and
(b) any person may, at any time during the progress of the proceedings or before the interim judgment is made final, give information to the Attorney-General on any matter material to the due decision of the case, and the Attorney-General may thereupon take such steps as he considers necessary or expedient.[42/2005]
(2) If the Attorney-General intervenes or shows cause against an interim judgment in any proceedings for divorce, the court may order one or more of the parties to the proceedings to pay the costs of the Attorney-General.
[42/2005]
Relief for defendant in divorce proceedings
98. If in any proceedings for divorce the defendant alleges and proves any such fact as is mentioned in section 95(3) (treating the defendant as the plaintiff and the plaintiff as the defendant for the purposes of that subsection), the court may give to the defendant the relief to which he would be entitled if he had filed a writ seeking that relief.[42/2005]
Interim judgment and proceedings thereafter
99. —(1) Every judgment of divorce shall in the first instance be an interim judgment and shall not be made final before the expiration of 3 months from its grant unless the court by general or special order from time to time fixes a shorter period. [42/2005]
(2) Where a judgment of divorce has been granted but not made final, then without prejudice to section 97, any person may show cause why the judgment should not be made final by reason of the material facts not having been brought before the court, and in such a case the court may —
(a) notwithstanding subsection (1), make the judgment final;
(b) rescind the interim judgment;
(c) require further inquiry; or
(d) otherwise deal with the case as it thinks fit. [42/2005]
(3) Where an interim judgment of divorce has been granted and no application for it to be made final has been made by the party to whom it was granted, then, at any time after the expiration of 3 months from the earliest date on which that party could have made such an application, the party against whom it was granted may make an application to the court and on that application the court may —
(a) notwithstanding subsection (1), make the judgment final;
(b) rescind the interim judgment;
(c) require further inquiry; or
(d) otherwise deal with the case as it thinks fit.
Proceedings for interim judgment of presumption of death and divorce
100. —(1) Any married person who alleges that reasonable grounds exist for supposing that the other party to the marriage is dead may file a writ to have it presumed that the other party is dead and to have the marriage dissolved, and the court, if satisfied that such reasonable grounds exist, may make an interim judgment of presumption of death and of divorce.
[42/2005]
(2) In any such proceedings, the fact that for a period of 7 years or more the other party to the marriage has been continually absent from the plaintiff, and the plaintiff has no reason to believe that the other party has been living within that time, shall be evidence that he or she is dead until the contrary is proved.
[42/2005]
(3) Section 99 shall apply to a writ and a judgment under this section as it applies to a writ for divorce and a judgment of divorce, respectively.
[42/2005]